Maniac (TV Mini Series) Option C (2018) User Reviews

Mostly Satisfying Finale!

[gab-14712 · 9/10 · 26 April 2021]

"Option C" provided an engaging finale for Maniac. It is hard to say if the series reached or surpassed my expectations because I honestly did not know what to expect. I knew there was talent behind the camera in Cary Fukunaga and in front of the camera with Jonah Hill/Emma Stone. I dug the weird vibes in terms of production design and the story itself. The writing could have been better especially when trying to incorporate mental health themes which is a tall task in itself. While the crux of the action happened last episode, this episode ties everything up. One thing that I was immediately surprised with is how the show did not force a romance between Owen and Annie down our throats. Subtle hints, perhaps. Now the opposite is true for James Mantleray and Dr. Fujita, who ends up having an amazing car.

In this mostly-satisfying finale, Mantleray and Fujita must face the CEO of Neberdine's after the failed trial. Meanwhile, the trial is finishing, and Owen will play an important part whether his brother is sentenced or not. Annie goes to her father's (played by Hank Azaria) house and they have an honest chat with one another. There is a reunion in the cards for Annie and Owen, but will it be a happy one?

This is a good ending for a solid series. It is crazy, weird, and often funny. I never expected comedy to be implemented often despite the use of comedy actors (looking at you, Jonah). Thankfully, the series is one and done. But there is some good stuff, so weirdness awaits if you want!

My Grade: A-

Marv

[ansd-2020 · 9/10 · 29 October 2018]

I think the whole serie season is good but the ending was better than I imagined, they stuck inside the Big computer and never go out , because in the all the dreams the number one and nine findes each other eventually, so the sign when both laughing in the car and leave the eagel that murdered by brother of owen and the lost dog that anne didn't find before going to the trial .. the ending was perfect and the show is well written hope to see something like it incoming future

One of the most uplifting moments in TV history.

[sachinkr-07449 · 10/10 · 30 September 2018]

Man the ending really got me, the joy in their faces was real, the happiness of the present was something. My heart pumped a little more blood than the usual during those few extraordinary moments of true bliss. Thank you Cary Joji Fukunaga, Emma Stone and Johan Hill.

Even when it doesn't connect to the satisfying ending, it still engages and works

[bob the moo · 2 June 2019]

It is hard not to celebrate the age of television we are in when you see a show as weird as this one but yet it is able to have so much top talent involved in it; and it doesn't go episode to episode with cancellation in the offing, because it all comes out at once. This US remake of a Norwegian show I've never seen or heard of, deals with mental health through the story of two people who go into a drug trial controlled by a supercomputer and find themselves interacting within the mental realm.

Regardless how this or other descriptions sounds, Maniac is not Twin Peaks. The Matrix, or anything else like that - indeed it is not like anything I have seen before. I'm not entirely sure that it knows what it is itself, but it has more enough energy about it to carry it across to the point where it starts to mean something. In the final few episodes of this season there is a lot of heart and emotion, and it all makes sense even if the connection to the previous episodes is not as strong as I'd have liked it to be. Essentially we have themes that have impacted on the main characters, played out or referenced in different ways through various fantasy sequences. These sequences are mostly amusing, engaging, or just weird enough to hold the attention, but they are not entirely successful as they don't always keep to that narrative core in the emotional way that works best. The downside of this is that the themes feel too obvious in ow they are played out for too much of the season, even if it does set it up and pull it out well.

The cast and director are a big part of this working, because it is the overall writing that doesn't manage to bring it off. The direction and art direction sell the tone and draw the best from all the components. The performances 'get' what is trying to be done, and they do it even if the show itself doesn't always manage it. Hill and Stone in particular go with it when it is silly, but yet deliver when it finds its heart. Theroux and Field are just as good and given solid material in the latter stages. I loved Mizuno though - such an 'oddity' of a character but yet she finds and keeps the person in there.

I do wish it had been more linked, smart, and funny, as it often suggested it was, but I was engaged throughout. The disconnected moments all offer something, and in the end it comes to an emotive and satisfying conclusion. Divisive for sure, but I found the creativity of the weaker aspects made me go with it, and it satisfied in the end.